This invention relates to the field of portable trays used for storage purposes. Specifically, the invention relates to the identification, placement, retention, storage, removal and/or accounting of personal items belonging to individuals, such as patients.
Portable trays have become widely used to facilitate easy access to items placed on the tray. Common applications include bed trays, tool trays, medical trays and the like.
Some tray designs have focused on a planar storage or object placement surface that is substantially parallel with the ground and that is capable of a high degree of portability. Trays in use in assisted living (AL), nursing home (NH) or long term care (LTC).
AL, NH or LTC facilities, for example, have a flat surface which is used for general non-specific temporary storage. Placement, securing and repetitive identification and mental association with the tray of personal items by AL, LTC or NH patients and residents is not easily accomplished on the flat tray surfaces.
Staff members of AL locations, LTC facilities or nursing homes have noted a high loss rate of personal items by frail or demented residents or patients (hereinafter xe2x80x9cresidentsxe2x80x9d). Residents living in nursing homes have various mental and physical impairments which affect their ability to store and retrieve personal items. Residents with moderate to severe physical or mental impairments commonly misplace, damage or discard personal items essential to daily life. Examples of frequently lost essentials include dentures, eye glasses and hearing aids. The loss of personal items has resulted in an under utilization of such items, diminishing the quality of life for AL, LTC and NH residents.
AL, LTC or NH residents, for example, commonly receive assistance from at least three shifts of caregivers each day, with rotation of staff to cover weekends and holiday periods. The sheer number of different people involved with placing, removing, storing and cleaning residents"" essential personal items such as eyeglasses, hearing aids and dentures creates the likelihood that there will be inconsistencies in how these items are stored and managed. For example, staff from the night or morning shift will typically assist with morning grooming, when eyeglasses, dentures and hearing aids usually would be worn or used. Evening shift staff assist with the preparation for bed, when assistive devices would typically be stored for the night. Differences in storage habits cause one set of shift workers to look in places logical to them but illogical to the preceding or following staff. This inconsistency creates difficulty for staff and residents in locating the mislaid or lost items. Such differences in storage choices and logic also detract from the staff""s ability to determine if items have been mislaid and initiate a search for lost items quickly.
Safety issues are also a very significant concern in the use of technology. AL, LTC and NH residents, for example, have disabilities or medical conditions necessitating equipment or appliances that is safe for their use in light of their inability to physically or mentally exercise a normal standard of precaution and care when using equipment or facilities. Many possible applications of modern technology or existing equipment is too complex or physically demanding for AL, LTC or NH residents. Normal abilities are not within many residents"" capabilities to grasp an item or prevent themselves from falling or refraining from pushing on an item or piece of equipment. Thus, adaptive equipment must be designed with numerous safety and accident prevention features. Features which prevent the tray from slipping when pushed or being easily broken when dropped onto the floor are important. Design considerations also must anticipate residents dropping the tray onto themselves or others. The existing storage and tray designs do not address the physical and mental limitations of many patients, including AL, LTC and NH residents. These also lack the required safety research as well as critical safety and utilization features absolutely necessary for successful use in, for example, an AL, LTC or NH environment.
Existing tray designs also lack features which allow for the mental comprehension difficulties that many patients, including AL, LTC and NH residents, experience. While existing tray designs are uniform in appearance, design and/or shape, they do not clearly signal to a resident or staff member that a personal item (eyeglasses, for example) should be placed in a particular receptacle. The lack of easily found reference points for storing personal items has resulted in confusion and substantial difficulties for frail and demented residents attempting to engage in routine daily living activities. Also, the lack of special and well defined receiving receptacles increases the difficulty for staff to introduce or teach a routine and clearly understood pattern of storage and retrieval to patients.
The continuing lack of standard and well understood personal item storage trays continues to waste staff time in item searches and generate substantial costs due to the need to replace lost items. Residents and patients suffering from physical or mentally debilitating conditions lose the use of personal items required to participate in daily life activities resulting in a lower quality of life. Thus, a need exists for a portable and safe personal item storage tray that is designed for use by patients, residents and staff. This invention is designed to address, among other things, such needs.
The present invention provides for a novel tray which is used for personal item identification, storage, retention, removal and management. The tray surface is substantially planar with an arrangement of personal item storage features. The invention uses personal item identification, placement, retention, storage and removal features and devices which facilitate the management of personal items by residents, patients and staff. The devices and features incorporate three or more depressions or recessed compartments (hereinafter xe2x80x9ccompartmentsxe2x80x9d) designed to receive specific personal items which can include eyeglasses, hearing aids and dentures. The storage, retention and removal features or devices are uniquely shaped and marked to distinguish each compartment from the other for ease in visual identification and discrimination between the uses of each feature or device. In the exemplary invention, recessed compartments have markings which visually associate personal items with said compartments. Any means for accomplishing storage or retention of personal items which can be used to secure, store or attach personal items to the tray can be used as well.
The bottom surface, sides, interior or surfaces of the tray includes a non-skid surface or other devices or structures which immobilize the tray or inhibit or prohibit accidental or undesirable lateral movement. The tray is incorporated into other structures as well to facilitate the function of personal item management.
The tray has a weighted base to assist with prevention of accidental displacements or movements of the tray. Such weights are part of the base itself or can be components such as batteries or other personal inventory automation components distributed in such a way to ensure easy balancing of the tray when it is at rest or being moved.
One embodiment of the tray includes personal item inventory and management automation features and devices incorporated into the tray body which assist nursing staff or other users in accounting for personal items. Such inventory or missing item notification automation features include a system which uses timers, mechanical linkages, pressure sensors, item sensors, light emitting diode emitter/detector trigger circuits, control circuits and/or alerting signaling devices such as mechanical flagging indicators, alerting lights, alerting sounds, passive or active transponder signals or any other electronic signals which, in combination with the sensor system, detect the presence of personal items within the tray storage areas and sound, signal or emit a missing item indication if an item is not present under predetermined circumstances. The staff or other users of the tray are alerted to the necessity to search for a missing item when the tray signal system is activated. The present invention can also use any other component or system which detects the presence of personal items which are desired to be in the tray compartments or storage means and signals to staff, patients or residents that the item is missing.